For the festival's 17th season, Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen will lead a performance of Stravinsky's 'L'Histoire du Soldat' Aug. 10. Other highlights include the Orion String Quartet's world première performance of a quartet by John Harbison Aug. 3.

World-class music in a small-town setting. The nine-week festival features more than 200 events, including chamber music, opera, lectures, and kids' programs. Talented musicians from the Aspen music school will perform Haydn's London Symphony, Beethoven's Symphony No. 2, and Brahms's Symphony No. 2, among others.

The event will feature Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona," "The Merry Wives of Windsor," "The Taming of the Shrew," and Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" at The Conant Performing Arts Center for classic theater at Oglethorpe University.

On opening night, internationally acclaimed soprano and opera star Dawn Upshaw joins the Grant Park Orchestra for an evening of classical and popular favorites, including Sondheim, Bernstein, Weill, and Gershwin.

The 16th annual International Arts Festival (IAF) features South African dancers, storytellers, artists, and sculptors hailing from Durban, South Africa. While listening to live music, visitors can enjoy Cajun and Caribbean food and exotic juices.

MASSACHUSETTS

The Berkshires

Jacob's Pillow

June 15-Aug. 25

Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project open Jacob's Pillow's 70th anniversary season (the longest-running US dance festival) with amazing dancers and new contemporary works by Lucinda Childs, Erick Hawkins, and the edgy British choreographer, Sarah Michelson.

You'll find activities including children's theater, parades, racing animals  even cow milking  at this oldest state fair in the United States (1849). There are also livestock shows, home and fine art competitions, sample tastings of Michigan products, and daily concerts.

Jazz legend and Grammy-award winning Chick Corea kicks off the music festival's 30th season. The season features chamber masterpieces by Johannes Brahms, world music from Duquende and Anoushka Shankar, and trumpet playing from award-winning jazzman Terence Blanchard.

This summer festival in the park features a variety of entertainment, from New York Grand Opera's performance of Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" to funky urban tap dance and an already-sold-out concert from singer-songwriter John Mayer.

More than 75 performances of music, theater, dance, puppetry, and film highlight the festival. Artists are from countries such as Algeria, China, Egypt, France, Japan, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Russia, and the US. The event features a revival of Stephen Sondheim's 1976 musical "Pacific Overtures," and performances by the Kirov Ballet.

The brochure describes the festival as a "garden of great music." Amid fragrant gardens and towering trees, festivalgoers can listen to world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman, the Eroica Trio, Latin jazz by Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and the Emerson String Quartet, who will perform Beethoven and Bartók. Caramoor also houses a large collection of Renaissance, 18th-century, and Eastern art objects at The House Museum.

This year's season features plays such as "Julius Caesar," "Macbeth," "The Winter's Tale," "Titus Andronicus," and "As You Like It." Non-Shakespeare offerings include "Noises Off" by Michael Frayn and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" by Edward Albee.

A celebration of Pennsylvania Dutch culture, the festival will feature more than 200 folk artists and traditional American craftsmen, handmade quilts, antiques, and six stages of music and storytelling. Children will enjoy hands-on activities, such as singalongs, story times, a magician, and pony rides. Also on hand will be Pennsylvania Dutch food, including shoofly pie and ox-roast sandwiches.

With the theme Unity for Peace, this event showcases a wide range of global arts groups in north Texas. Activities include a Parade of Nations, poetry readings, and performances by Mariachi Rayos de Guanajuato, the Olin Tontitzin Aztec dancers, and the Sufi Drummers.

Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains provide a beautiful backdrop for this series of concerts every Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. On Aug. 11, the Tango Quintet with Rablo Ziegler and Nicky Danielson will set the night on fire as they perform tangos by Argentinian composer Astro Piazzola.

This is one of Seattle's largest arts and crafts fairs. Festivities include a people-powered parade complete with 20-foot-high puppets, 28 ethnic food booths, and six stages with a wide variety of music, dance, and a new interactive drumming area.

Thousands of people from around the world will gather to listen to nearly 500 concerts (350 are free) in the heart of Montreal. The lineup includes jazz legend Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, and Lauryn Hill.